§ Mr. McAvoyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications for developing countries of the United States, European Community, Japanese and Nordic proposals for the current Uruguay round of GATT to include liberalisation of the services sector.
§ Mr. RedwoodI have been asked to reply.
With services accounting for a growing proportion of world trade, the proposals being considered in the GATT Uruguay round for a multilateral agreement on trade in services, stand to benefit all participants, developed and developing countries alike. The United Kingdom and its European Community partners are working for an agreement with the widest possible participation, and which achieves the greatest liberalisation. It is recognised that the commitments expected of developing countries will need to take account of development of their service sectors, and this is reflected in the draft agreement recently tabled by the EC.